Linton Messer († 2792-05-03) or Messer XI was the last Imperator of the UEE from the Messer family. After a successful plot against his father, he succeeded him in 2781 as Imperator. His regency was overshadowed by a civilian and military uprising which ended with his deposition and death in 2792.[1]
His successor became Erin Toi.[2]

Life

Linton was the son of Ulysses Messer X and the older brother of Fiona Messer. Ulysses labored his whole life to build the Khanos Stadium. Having grown weary of waiting for their father to pass, Fiona and Linton secretly funded a resistance movement. Linton, an effortlessly persuasive man, worked his way through members of his father’s inner circle and prominent members of the military, as well as the Senate and Advocacy, in an effort to find assets that he could potentially use to depose his father. On the day of the stadium's opening (2781-08-12) the stadium was attacked in a bombing orchestrated by Linton's sister Fiona. Ulysses took his own life after it became clear that Linton had control of the military and a coup was imminent.[3][4]

His first action was to eliminate the resistance movement he founded. Nevertheless, he "created an infrastructure that invigorated the revolutionary movement".[3] The new Imperator found himself in a dangerous situation, threatened by both outer enemies (Xi’an and Vanduul) and inner disturbances.[5]

Linton hired his cousin Ellis Netemi as his personal advisor, who would go on to be involved in the terraforming of Garron II.[6]

At the time, child and compulsory labour on several planets were also major issues of social unrest. [7] The oppression by the Advocacy also served as fuel for the fire of resentement spreading against the Messer regime. Seemingly, Messer XI never tried to reform the system.

In 2789 the Senate under the lead of Terrence Akari signed a peace treaty with the Xi’an. Linton never ratified the treaty, following the political xenophobic guideline of his predecessors. This was not a publicly popular choice. The Xi’an seem to have supported the resistance movement directly or indirectly.[5]

In 2790 he ordered the development of new weapon prototypes. Julien Maupin was entrusted with this task. The weapons were shipped in 2792, but with the fall of the regime, the projects were abandoned. The abandoned plans built the fundament of Colabellos Apocalypse Arms.[8]

Military Squadrons found themselves on core worlds fighting against political dissidents, rather than the alien threats they signed up for.[9] The 78th Squadron was sent in 2791 to bombard a settlement of unarmed dissidents on an asteroid. The Squadron refused to kill innocent civilians and were arrested and sentenced to death. This was a major blow to the Messer regime's popularity. [9]

The final straw was the involvement of the Messer family in the terraforming project of Garron II, which ended with the death of a sentient, self-aware species. Leaked videos sparked massive outrage which led to a UEE-wide uprising. Messer XI was deposed on 2792-05-03.

Editorial Note: An early Writer's Guide claims that he was ruling in 2638[5] which is inconsistent with many later sources. At one point there were at least 19 Messer Imperators, that has been reduced down to 11. See drafts of the Star Citizen Architectural Guide for references to the 19 Messers.